AN: The Hunger Games, and its characters, are credited to Suzanne Collins. Amethyst Carthage and any new characters are of my own doing.

I wake up screaming. My heart pounds and I am covered in a cold sweat. My hands shake and I feel as though they are slicked with something, with blood, but I tell myself that they're not. Not real, I tell myself, not real. Panicked sobs rake my body and soon I am crying and shaking uncontrollably. Not real.

Beside me, the bed shifts and a soft glow from the bedside lamp fills the dark room. His arms encircle me and he pulls me onto his lap.

"It's alright, Amethyst. You're safe, love." Finnick whispers in my ear, gently stroking my hair. My face finds itself in the crook of his neck and I take a deep breath to calm down. It doesn't help. I still see Kaleb in front of me with blood trickling from his throat, still feel his blood on my hands. I tighten my grasp on Finnick's shirt and pull him closer to me, desperate to hold on to the present. We stay like this for some time and my sobs eventually stop as the remaining tears roll down my cheeks. I pull away slightly from Finnick and I look at him for the first time since we woke up.

His hair is a mess, some flopping into his eyes and some sticking up, reminding me to give him a haircut soon. There are dark shadows under his eyes from countless sleepless nights but his sea green eyes look at me with such love and intent that I am fully pulled out of my nightmare. He doesn't look at me with pity-filled eyes, like most people do. One of my hands reaches for his cheek and strokes it, the skin soft yet showing a hint of stubble. He closes his eyes briefly and when he opens them, I see something else in them: confusion and desire.

He turns his head slightly to kiss the palm of my hand and mumbles: "Why are you comforting me when I should be comforting you?" I laugh then sigh, turning his head to face me.

"That's because you've been having these nightmares for longer than I have, Odair."

A grin slowly appears on his face and his lips are on mine, gentle at first then much more passionate and demanding. My fingers twist in his tousled locks as I desperately attempt to close the gap between our bodies, the nightmare completely forgotten. For now.

Finnick is the first to pull away. "Why are you so wonderful?"

"You're demanding an awful lot of questions tonight," I say with a wink.

"Need I remind you that you decided to put up with this?"

I shake my head, a silly smile on my face. "I love you."

"As do I, Mrs. Odair."

I am the first to kiss him this time, and despite our preoccupation, I hear the click of the lamp as we fall back onto the pillows.